Hey guys! We are up to almost 10,000! Let's keep it coming! Tell your friends! Also, if you get a second, you can follow me on twitter: breanne_dodds. Review review review. I can't stress that enough! I'm not sure where I'm going with this chapter exactly, so it'll be a fun one to write ;) Guest – Dumbledore was always so fond of those lemon drops :p & Pgoodrichboggs – Thanks! Draco is convinced he is helping Hermione, and not Harry, so that plays a role. Remember, the Order is using him as a weapon against Voldemort, and he's completely unaware of that right now. They think that Hermione and his relationship will jeopardize their chances of winning the war.

Chapter 22:

Ron had taken so much of his time listening to the radio the boy had brought with them that it made Hermione's head hurt. He was obsessed with it to the point of sitting next to it for hours. He listened to a show called Potterwatch, which in Hermione's opinion was the stupidest thing anyone could ever do. But, it gave people hope, and one of those people, was Ron. But, as much as it came to be an obsession, Hermione began noticing changes in his behavior toward her. He wasn't the sweet and charming man he used to be – he was ignoring her, and when they did speak, it was short sentences, just of acknowledgement. He would have deep conversations with Harry that Harry refused to tell Hermione about, and on more than one occasion, she thought about just leaving… But where would she go? Her home in London wasn't safe, and Hogwarts was out of the question. She was trapped between her best friend and a man madly in love with her. She was at a loss.

The next few weeks were overly tedious. She spent the majority of her time trying to figure out what the symbol pertained too, and where she had seen it before but to no avail. She also spent a majority of her time writing in her journal, and then casting a secrecy charm on it to make sure Harry and Ron wouldn't be able to read it.

Febuary 13th – I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't know if I'll be able to help Harry. Ron is completely ignoring me, and I have to wonder if Harry told him about Draco. They haven't made any progress on locating the sword, and have put most of the heavy weight onto me, as usual. This symbol is still bothering me, though. It has to mean something.

Between flipping through her Ancient Rune books for the hundredth time and reading the Tales of Beedle the Bard, Hermione stayed outside, and away from the boys and that awful radio. She normally kept watches, and only went inside when she was completely exhausted and knew she couldn't function without sleep. On those rare nights when Ron would actually speak to her, it was something along the lines of if she had found anything yet, to which she respond no, and leave it at that. These days, she was too tired to pick at Ron for his laziness. She would retire into her bed, dream about how her life would be if she didn't have to deal with any of this, and then wake up the next day and do it all again.

There was one particular evening that Harry came to sit beside her, for the first time in days. She merely only side glanced him as she flipped through her book, and pushed her hair behind her ear, waiting for him to speak.

"How are you?" he asked, as though it was the most casual question in the world. Maybe it was.

"Fine," Hermione said absently, still reading over her paragraph.

"You haven't been very talkative lately," Harry pointed out.

"Nothing to talk about," Hermione replied.

"Well, if you need to talk… I'm here," Harry told her and realized that she wasn't going to talk to him. She was in a mood, except this mood was going to last until they found the sword. He stood up and walked away from his friend and back to the tent.

It was late evening the next day when Harry convinced Hermione to let him take her overnight watch. There was bit of bickering and Hermione insisted she was fine, but in the end, she gave in, went into the tent, curled up in her bed, and Harry presumed she slept… and truly hoped she did. She looked terrible lately: dark bags under her eyes, and her skin was rather pale. He knew a lot of it had to do with Malfoy and that she was becoming more and more depressed as time went on. He hadn't tried to contact her, and it was taking its toll on her. Harry assumed the reasoning behind it was that Malfoy truly was a git, but there could've been other reasoning surrounding the mysterious disappearance of his Patronuses.

Harry fingered the grooves in Hermione's wand as he sat against their normal tree, keeping watch around the campsite. His mind was on pressing matters: he knew he had to find the Sword, and destroy Horcruxes, and eventually face Voldemort. He felt as though Hermione wasn't giving them enough credit… But, that was just Hermione. He looked onwards into the dark forest as a breeze rustled by. Nothing was going on out here, nothing ever did. He closed his eyes momentarily, thinking that he could use just some quick shut-eye. But, he had an increasingly uneasy feeling as his eyes were closed, and he opened them to see an orb of blue light moving towards him.

At first, he thought it was Malfoy, and Hermione would be pleased to hear from him. But, as it grew closer to Harry, he saw through the tree branches that it had morphed itself into a doe. Confused, he stared at the doe in front of him, waiting for it to speak. However, it did the exact opposite. It stared at him, beckoning him to come forward. Harry rose to his feet, and shrugged the blanket off of his shoulders. He cautiously moved towards the creature, gripping Hermione's wand in his hand tightly. They stared at one another for long minutes before the doe turned away and began walking the way in which it came.

Harry, perplexed by this animal, followed suit. The only person he knew whose Patronus was a doe was his mother… was this his mother helping him again? The doe moved silently over the fallen branches and crumpled snow. Harry trailed it closely, so caught up in his own wonder that he didn't even realize that he was being led away from the campsite, and through the wards. He followed the Patronus until it came to the middle of a frozen pond, and floated in thin air. Harry looked into the pond wearily, using Hermione's wand as a light.

"Harry, stop, you're not actually going to go in there," Ron's voice came from behind him.

"What are you doing, Ron? You need to be with Hermione!" Harry barked, still watching the Patronus floating amidst the pond.

"Hermione can take care of herself mate," Ron argued, stepping closer to him. "You know better than to go chasing random Patronuses."

"It was a doe," Harry replied and Ron tensed. "It led me here. It has to be my mother."

Ron couldn't disagree with it, and nodded carefully. "So why is it here?"

"It's trying to show me something," Harry said softly, and the Patronus drifted down into the frozen pond.

Harry stepped one foot on the frozen surface, testing it out to see if it would collapse under his weight. It didn't, however, and he moved forward. As Harry moved out onto the middle of the pond, he heard the ice beneath him creak, and Ron bounded forward only to be stopped by Harry's hand, telling him to stay put. Both of the boys were shaking, not only because of the cold, but because of the circumstances surrounding what brought them there. Harry leaned down to where the Patronus had drifted too and saw nothing but snow covering the ice on the pond. Gently, he brushed the flakes away, and saw beneath him none other than the Sword of Gryffindor.

"Ron! It's down here!" Harry called to his friend ecstatically.

"Bloody hell," Ron shook his head. "You have to go into the pond to get it? How the hell did it end up there in the first place?"

"No idea," Harry replied and stood back up, studying the situation. He really didn't want to go down into the freezing water. "It could be a trap."

"We need the sword, Harry," Ron said slowly. "If you don't go down there, I will."

"No, I'll go," Harry concluded.

He broke the ice with a Diffindo and watched as it fell down into the bottom of the pond, some larger chunks bouncing off the hilt of the sword. Without another word, he knew that Ron was indeed right: they had to get that sword come hell or high water. Obviously, this go around, it was high water. He walked back to the surface and began to strip down to his boxers, Ron watching him uneasily.

"Should anything happen to me, you have to destroy the locket," Harry told Ron as he took off his socks, the last garment of clothing on his body.

"Don't talk like that, Harry," Ron replied and shivered in the cold. "Go get the sword."

"Right," Harry sighed and looked back to the pond. He walked onto the snow, ignoring how cold it was, and onto the ice, which seemed warmer. He was certain it wouldn't break around him, and once he got to the spot he had broken the ice too, he turned to look at Ron.

"Good luck, mate," Ron wished him and took out his wand, ready for the inevitable that followed Harry wherever he went.

Harry looked back down into the ice and took a breath, preparing himself for the rush of cold that was going to follow him jumping into the pond. It wouldn't be worse than the lake during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Harry kept assuring himself of that as he dove into the water, breaking the surrounding ice around him.

He saw the hilt of the sword sparkling beneath him a good eight feet or so. He swam gracefully down to the rocks, but the moment he brushed the hilt of the sword with his fingertips, he felt the Locket begin to tighten around his neck. Harry's eyes grew wide as he grabbed at the chain of the locket, but it refused to budge. How had he not foreseen this happening? He kicked and clawed at his skin, trying to grasp the chain but it was no use. He was floating to the top of the pond now, and with one hand, pounding on the solid ice around the hole he had made. The locket wouldn't let him get back to the opening. He only hoped Ron could hear him. Harry's brain was loosing air fast, and he knew if he inhaled, it would be all icy water. So, he reserved himself to fighting the locket until he absolutely couldn't anymore, and closed his eyes, suspended in the middle of the water in the pond, grabbing onto the locket ever so softly, his strength completely depleted…

But, then he was gasping cold and icy air instead of water. Harry felt his body being drug from the ice onto the cold snow, and branches prickling his bottom. Clutching his heart and feeling around for his glasses, Harry found them and put them on to see Ron staring at him, soaking wet and shivering, holding the Sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Locket in the other. He had the most intense look on his face that Harry had ever recalled seeing.

"Are you bloody fucking Mental?!" Ron yelled, holding up the Locket. "You didn't think to take this off before you dove in there? It's a Horcrux, Harry! It was obviously going to try to stop you from getting something that could destroy it!"

Harry shook his head to clear his brain and pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "You didn't catch it either!"

Ron glared at him. "You were supposed to be the smart one! No wonder I had to come in there and save your stupid arse."

Harry allowed himself to laugh for the first time in months and began to put on his clothes, casting a warming and drying shield on himself and his best friend. "You should get to destroy it, Ron."

Ron's eyes almost bugled out of their sockets. "What? No, mate. The Horcrux killing was always up to you."

Harry moved towards his friend. "No, Ron, you saved me. You get the pleasure of getting rid of this damn thing. Imagine what Hermione will say if we tell her you did it."

"Hopefully it'll get her to talk to me," Ron shrugged and sighed. He looked at the Locket and then back to Harry. He laid it on the ground, and Ron looked at the Horcrux hauntingly.

"It will put up a fight," Harry told his friend. "The Riddle in the diary in the Chamber of Secrets tried to kill me."

The two boys heard the whispering and buzzing coming from the locket, and Ron looked down at it with a look of intense hatred. He raised the sword over his head, ready to strike the object that had been making their lives hell for the past eight months. He counted down with Harry, and then Harry whispered "open" in Parseltongue. Ron's heart began to beat uncontrollably fast, but he was in no way second guessing destroying it. When the locket opened, it was like the surge of a nuclear bomb went off, throwing both boys back opposite directions and landing in the snow. There was a high pitch buzzing and Harry covered his ears, but scrambled to see what was going on. A large black mass was developing in front of Ron. Harry tried to run for Ron, but the surge held him back, and all he could do was stare.

The voice of Voldemort rang out and told Ron it could see his heart and he belonged to him. Harry saw Ron scrambling back, eyes locked dead into the black mass. The Horcrux told him how he saw his dreams and fears, and Harry winced as a large group of spiders ran at Ron. His best friend stumbled back, unable to get to his feet. When that didn't phase him as much as the Horcrux wanted, it jabbed at his fears, and jealousies. It said how much Molly had bestowed him to want a Ginny, and how Hermione had wanted another man. At that moment, Harry prayed that it wouldn't tell him it was Malfoy. He knew that he had to get Ron to kill it before it said anything more.

"RON! KILL IT!" Harry bellowed from across the mass.

Suddenly, Harry saw himself and Hermione coming out the mass, walking towards Ron. His breath caught; Ron was jealous of him. He was afraid that he and Hermione were an item. As much as he was relieved it wasn't Malfoy, this posed an entirely new problem. The Horcrux version of himself and Hermione were coaxing Ron about how they were happier without him, and how Molly had preferred Harry as a son over Ron. And then, they were kissing… Passionately. Harry's gut felt unstable as he watched Ron through the mass. For a moment, Harry thought Ron wouldn't be able to go through with it, and began to race forward again, but couldn't due to the surge still holding him back.

"RON! STAB THE LOCKET!" he bellowed again, hoping his friend could hear him.

He saw a flash of Ron's face that genuinely disturbed him before he was pushed back by the surge and heard the terrible noise of metal against metal. Ron bellowed something not understandable before the black mass disappeared and the two boys were standing next to one another, catching their breath from the horror they had just witnessed. Harry saw the Locket, broken into a thousand pieces and blackened, laying on the ground as though it had been scorched. Then, he asserted his attention to his best friend, and went to pull him to his feet.

"Good job," Harry offered. Ron leaned on him for a moment before looking at him with pleading eyes. For a moment, Harry was speechless. "I'm sorry, Ron… I didn't know."

"Well, now you do," Ron said in the most defeated tone Harry had ever heard. "I'm just glad it's gone."

"I can't wait to tell Hermione," Harry sighed and put his arm around his best friend, leading him back to their campsite.

"Hermione?" Hermione's eyes flittered open as she heard her name being called from outside the tent. It was Harry's voice. She blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes before rolling over from her bed and briskly walking out the flap of the tent to see Harry standing in front of her, a goofy grin on his face.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione asked, her brows creased as she looked the situation over.

"It's fine, actually, yeah," Harry said as he fiddled with the buckle on his belt and pointed over the ridge to where Ron was coming up behind him.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, and quickly bounded up the ridge to see Ron standing there, the Sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Locket in the order. Except, the locket was open and blackened as if they had set fire to it. That's when it had dawned on her. They had found the sword and Harry had destroyed the Horcrux. She turned to Harry and then to Ron, unsure of what to say.

"Hey," Ron said weakly and held up the locket.

"You destroyed it?" she asked Harry, still looking back from him to Ron and back again.

"Well, uhm, Ron did actually," Harry said and offered Ron a glare of sympathy.

Hermione turned back to Ron, the man who she thought couldn't harm a fly, with the most confused expression on her face there ever could be. "You destroyed it? And how did you two just happen to find the sword of Gryffindor?"

Harry came to stand between Hermione and Ron, just in case Hermione did something stupid, which she was known for when she couldn't control her emotions. "It's a long story."

"Oh yeah?" Hermione said and crossed her arms. "Tell me. We have time."

Harry and Ron hastily began to recount the events that led them up to destroying the Horcrux. Harry told her about the doe, which prompted an intense scolding from Hermione that he had even gone after it. He had to shush her quite a few times to allow the boys to finish their story, but when they had, her hardened features had softened considerably. Ron offered her a smile, which she returned.

"I'm glad that's done," Hermione sighed.

"We need to figure out the Elder Wand now," Harry reminded her.

"Yes, Harry, of course," Hermione said and went back into the tent. The boys followed her without question as she began to rummage through her piles of books until she found the Tales of Beedle the Bard. She sat down on her bed, and the boys sat on either side of her. She opened up to the symbol in the book, and pointed to it. "This is something important, I just can't figure out what."

"Why is there writing in the margins?" Ron asked, pointing to where Draco had scribbled notes about The Elder Wand.

Hermione's breath drew sharply without her realizing it. "I don't know. This was lent to me. Anyway, that symbol means something, I've been saying that for days. And I know I've seen it before. I'm sure that it's the key to unlocking whatever Voldemort is trying to do."

Harry and Ron both nodded as Hermione leaned back against the bed and read the table of The Three Brothers aloud to the boys. The three of them continued to rack their brain for the rest of the evening, but couldn't get anywhere so decided to call it a night. Hermione was convinced that the solution would present itself, just as the sword had. As she took her watch, she realized that it had been weeks since she had heard from Draco and curled into herself as tightly as she could. She wondered if he was thinking about her or worse, if something had happened to him. When two people were in love, it was said that they were bonded magically and they would know if something happened to one another. Hermione sincerely hoped that was true because she was worried beyond belief about the blonde Slytherin and the things he was doing to her heart.

Many miles away from The Forest of Dean, Draco was indeed thinking about Hermione. He tended to do so quite a bit more lately now that his life was full of evil. She was the one pure thing he could turn too, even if she wasn't there physically. As he laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, it could have been hours before he moved or spoke. He hadn't come out of bed in so long that Sparky took it upon herself to check on him. She appeared in her Master's room and stood beside his bed, staring at him curiously. She knew the look: Lucius had gotten it when he was in love with Narcissa. As she studied the young man, she couldn't help but wonder who the girl was.

"What is it, Sparky?" Draco asked without looking at her.

"Sparky knows you are in love, Master," she said rather bluntly. He turned to look at her with surprise on his face. "Sparky knows you cannot talk to your mother or father about it. Do you need an ear?"

Draco smiled and laid back again, thankful he could be open, at least to someone. "I miss her."

"I bet you do," Sparky jumped up onto the side of the bed and patted Draco's leg. "Is she nice?"

"Only when she wants to be," Draco chuckled at the memories of her. "She's very… blunt."

"That's a good thing," Sparky nodded eagerly. "Go on."

"She has this hair that's like… a bird's nest," Draco explained, using his hands to speak as well. "But, her eyes are the most beautiful shade of hazel. And she has this line of freckles that trails down her left shoulder… and a scar on her ribcage."

"Did Master take time to memorize these things about her?"

Draco sighed. "Yes, I did. She just didn't know it, though. We weren't on the best terms when I did so. We didn't like eachother at first… But, we grew to like eachother. It just took time."

"How long has Master known her?"

"Seven years," Draco said and almost choked on all the bad memories between the two that were caused by him. "I did and said terrible things to her, Sparky. She deserves better."

Sparky's big tennis ball shaped eyes looked at her Master with concern and she took his hand in her little one. "Master… Does she love you in return?"

Draco closed his eyes. "I hope so. I think so. But, we can't be together. If mother or father or Snake Eyes found out, they would kill her, and me."

Sparky looked down to the bed covers in sadness. She hated seeing Draco this way. "Sparky takes it that she is on the other side of the war wizard's war."

"That's correct," Draco said softly. "She is a major part of the other side, just like I'm a major part of this side. I wonder every day if she is still alive..."

Sparky thought for a moment then smiled. "Master, it is said that if two wizards love one another, they are bonded."

Draco hadn't thought about that. His grey eyes opened and he turned to look at his house self with a smile. "You're right, Sparky. I would know if anything were to happen to her."

"Sparky assures Master that his love will be alright," Sparky squeezed his hand. "Sparky also wants young Master to know that she overheard the evil one talking to his father."

Draco raised an eyebrow. This should be good. "Go on, Sparks, I'm listening."

"Sparky heard the evil one smashing things in the parlor. He said something about his soul being destroyed," Sparky told Draco quietly.

Draco's smile widened and he fell back against his pillows in relief. Hermione had done it; they had destroyed the locket! He always knew that she had it in her, and even if Potter and Weasley did help, the locket was still gone and there were only three more to go. Thank Merlin. Draco's heart felt fuller than it had in days and his anxiety had subsided a little bit as his hopes began to grow again.

"I knew she would come through," he whispered happily and content.

"Master is speaking of his love?" Sparky asked, confused.

Draco nodded. "She is very intelligent. I hope you get to meet her one day. Would you go relay this information to my mother? Make sure she is alone, though. I'm assuming father isn't going to tell her jack shit."

Sparky nodded and with a smile and a snap of her fingers, she was already across the Manor. Draco sat up and looked out the window to the tall evergreen trees and smiled. Hermione was alive out there somewhere, and she was working with the Immortal Orphan and the Weasel to destroy Voldemort once and for all. He took a moment to enjoy the news before his father called him for dinner. It was a long and tedious task, but Draco did look unusually happy, as far as his father and the Dark Bastard asking him what was causing such delight.

Draco only responded that he was pleased to hear that the Ministry had fallen, as the news was told to him at the meeting earlier in the day. Voldemort coddled him on being a good servant, and for the first time in years, his father clapped him on the back and told him how proud he was of his son. Although Draco took no meaning from either men, he still enjoyed feeling happy while he could before it was sucked out him. It tended to happen in the Manor, and he wondered how none of the Malfoy's had ever died of depression. Even when he was finished with his supper and retired to his library, he found great satisfaction in just sitting in his chair and reading about Horcruxes.

Suddenly, with one less Horcrux out there, the world around him seemed like a better place.